and I finally made friends.

I understand that it's been two days since the last post, so whoops. But the title explains the reasoning. Tuesday we had our first day of orientation to the University, and on the tour around the city, I ended up with all the German studies majors, all of whom speak English.

I'll admit that we all speak English, but I'm the only American in the group so at least I'm always hearing a dialect. Like Zoey, Beck, and Lizzy are from Australia; Jill, Alastair, Cleona, Emma, and Catriona are from Scotland/Ireland, Jenni is from Finland, and I'm from Minnesota. Jill thought I was a Canadian when we first met.

The first day of orientation covered tips and tricks for studying at the Uni plus an introduction from the director of the international office, followed by the tour of the University, tour of the city, and ending with a kneipe tour. (I'll leave that word for you to translate.)

We stayed with that kneipe tour until about midnight, visiting all the cheapest places and trying the local brews. It's unfortunate becuase the last streetcar leaves at 12:30 a.m. And if you miss it, it's either taxi for approx. 10 Euros or walk approx 45 minutes becuase all the student "dorms" are practically city outskirts.

I say "dorms" but it's not. They are 8 in my apartment, each with his or her own room. We just share bathrooms and a kitchen. Although I did hear from a friend that she lives with twelve total and knows of one apartment at 16 people. Yet each room is still huge and is never shared. No "dorm" life for this kid.

Day two was much more useful in that we finally heard about studying at the Uni. The German system is terribly confusing. They are implementing a Bachelors/Masters system such as the U.S., but the old system of Diplom, Magristrum, and Staatsexam are still there. I don't even understand it, so that's why I can't really give an explanation.

The good news from our discussion is that as an International student, I really can take anything I want...at least I hope. The lectures don't have homework, readings, or tests. You don't apply for almost any of your classes. There are also Proseminars, which are more work and smaller groups, but even then application isn't necessary. So with that, I'm solely waiting on the U of M to respond with description of what I need to do to get credit from here. Otherwise I'll be taking my history course (Social, Economic, and Environmental history of the Bundesrepublik Deutschland), my "other humanities" course (Introduction to Musical Analysis), and of course some finance ones for my own enjoyment (Fundamentals of Finance, and Financial analysis and portfolio management! Woo hoo!)

Well, off to the next day of sessions and a 70 degree weather. I hear Minnesota has snow--that's quite unfortunate. But I've got to buy some sunglasses now so I can't worry about 20 degrees fahrenheit when it's 20 degrees celcius here. (just kidding, enjoy it and sled it in) I will admit that while it's warm here now, it's only a sign that it will be hot here later. Until then,

Later Days,
Rick